Hot Topics:

Talking Pictures: 'Oldboy'

Park Chan-Wook, a widely recognized Korean director, just made his American debut with the haunting and mesmerizing film "Stoker" starring Nicole Kidman and Mia Wasikowska.

Majoring in philosophy in college, Park started a film club there and published numerous articles on current and past films. His first career aspiration after college was to become an art critic, but after seeing Hitchcock's "Vertigo," Park decided to try his hand at filmmaking.

Starting as an assistant director, he eventually made his way to directing. His first feature film efforts were somewhat disregarded, and it wasn't until his third film "Joint Security Area," a powerful piece about tensions between North and South Korea, did he finally receive international acclaim. Park's films are notoriously violent and usually center around the theme of revenge. But rather than indulging in senseless violence, like his Hollywood counterparts might, Park makes it a point to demonstrate the futility of violence as an act of revenge. His films are brash and operatic odes to lonely, desperate and dangerous people. They're one part Shakespearean drama, one part Grecian tragedy, and one part existential literature — think Kafka or Dostoyevsky.

Advertisement

This is undoubtedly best exemplified is his magnum opus "Oldboy" (2003), an absorbing, graphic and unforgettable tale of vengeance and violence.

"Oldboy" is a movie that you shouldn't let anyone spoil for you if you haven't seen it. I'll give you the basic set up: Oh Dae-su is kidnapped on the day of his young daughter's birthday and imprisoned in a hotel room for fifteen excruciating years. Stuck in a seemingly endless prison, Oh Dae-su begins to lose his mind and stews on his hatred and intense urge for revenge. He tries to escape multiple times and uses his infinite spare time to physically train and prepare to exact his vengeance. Then, one day, for reasons unknown to Oh Dae-su, he is released. With the blood boiling in his veins, Oh Dae-su seeks to find who imprisoned him, why and then kill them.

"Oldboy" is one of those stunning moments in the history of film where something magical and inexplicable happens, and a nearly perfect film is made. Park Chan-Wook, hot off the failure of another revenge film, set out to do it right this time; and he did, with thrilling results. This is a film that ravages your eyes and your heart, taking the thriller genre and blowing it to bits, keeping the motivations and center of the story in the characters and not the plot. Many times you'll want to look away, but you won't have the physical capacity to do, stunned by the intense and immaculately composed imagery. With the richness of great literature and the profoundness of a philosophical essay, "Oldboy" is a sociological exploration of the recklessness and morbidity of human nature, the consequences of those who choose to live without consideration, and the power of love, no matter how twisted that love may be.

Park Chan-Wook is a filmmaker to watch. Admittedly, his Korean works are holding up better than his recent English-speaking film "Stoker." Like "Chinatown," "Citizen Kane," "Pulp Fiction," "Taxi Driver" and others, there are those quintessential films that every film lover should watch. No matter your film tastes and whether you love or hate the aforementioned films, there's something in those films that will stir up discussion or provoke some thought. I would add "Oldboy" to that list of must-see films.

Sheridan O'Donnell reviews movies not in theaters anymore. Send your suggestions (and comments) to odsher@gmail.com and your film might just be in next week's Pulse.

ODESSA, Texas (AP) — A West Texas man has been charged with impersonating an officer by using sirens and flashing lights to skip to the head of the drive-thru line at a fast-food restaurant. Full Story

Sufjan Stevens, "Carrie & Lowell" (Asthmatic Kitty) Plucked strings and pulsing keyboards dominate the distinctive arrangements on Sufjan Stevens' latest album, and in the absence of a rhythm section, they serve to keep time. Full Story